A dozen Secret Service agents with President Barack Obama at an international summit have been relieved of duty because of allegations of misconduct.

The Associated Press said it received an anonymous tip that the misconduct involved prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, the site of the Summit of the Americas. A Secret Service spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the allegation.

However, the Washington Post reported that Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told the newspaper the accusations relate to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena.

A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and requested anonymity, put the number of agents at 12, the AP reported.

The incident threatened to overshadow Obama's economic and trade agenda at the summit and embarrass the U.S. The White House had no comment.

so some tax money was spent to make a bunch of guys happy which is a lot better than to spend it bombing some afghan weddings.

For the rest: people hate you already, and I don't think that BO is so close with his body guards that there is a risk of a STD infection._________________Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males

You are confused. I don't care who does what with any other willing adult participant. Just don't make me pay for it while also having laws banning me from doing the same._________________People Of Love

You are confused. I don't care who does what with any other willing adult participant. Just don't make me pay for it while also having laws banning me from doing the same.

so you would be fine with this if prostitution would be legal? then pressure your representives to change the law!_________________Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males

So what - it's their own salary that they are free to spend. Do you seriously want to sneak into your officials' homes, bedrooms to make sure it's all fine?

Is it embarrassing? Sure But ranting about taxpayer money is just so American once again..._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

They are there on official business. If they had decided to buy a plane ticket and the BJ with their own money, I wouldn't care at all.

I suppose even SS agents do have off-hours, and they surely didn't try to put this on their expense account, did they?_________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

It's not about our views on sex being prudish; it's about security, blackmail, respect for the prudish views of others (e.g., hordes of Catholics in South and Central America), diplomacy and non-exploitative behavior, and what was once the dignity of the office of President of the United States.

In a major embarrassment for the United States at the Summit of the Americas attended by more than 30 heads of state, 11 U.S. Secret Service agents were sent home and five military servicemen grounded over "misconduct" allegations in a hotel.

Prostitutes were taken to the hotel, according to a Colombian police source.

The widening controversy was overshadowing a host of weightier topics at the two-day summit that began on Saturday.

"I had a breakfast meeting to discuss trade and drugs, but the only thing the other delegates wanted to talk about was the story of the agents and the hookers," chuckled one Latin American diplomat in the historic city of Cartagena.

A U.S. lawmaker who heads a congressional committee that oversees the Secret Service told CNN the incident apparently involved 11 agents "and they did bring women back to their rooms."

Representative Peter King, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said "one of the women did not leave the room in the morning" and that a hotel manager tried to get in the room. King, briefed on the incident, said the woman emerged and said "they owed her money."

As well as the hotel incident a day or two before Obama's arrival on Friday, locals also said the Americans were involved in a fracas at a brothel in the dingy outskirts of Cartagena.

Locals were deeply unimpressed.

"They came to look after their president, not to have a party," Cartagena street vendor Rosa Elena Prieto said. "The weak flesh of men costs them their jobs."

Making no reference to the scandal, Obama tackled head-on accusations he had neglected Latin America while dealing with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and other faraway global priorities.

"We've never been more excited about the prospect of working as equal partners with our brothers and sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean," he told business officials before the start of the main heads-of-state summit, which will last into Sunday.

Obama also hailed the potential to boost trade between the "nearly a billion consumers" of North and South America.

The reality, though, is different: China has taken advantage of perceived U.S. neglect and is now the main trade partner for various countries, including regional powerhouse Brazil.

Running for re-election in November, Obama is also under pressure from domestic voters to show his foreign policies give priority to trade that creates American jobs.

Doesn't seem like anything a Jungle Juice Summit couldn't solve._________________Here's another unfortunate pack of mutants who ought to be penciled in for a sudden visit from the angel of death.
-- Carlin

Most of the Secret Service agents embroiled in a prostitution scandal brought women back to their Colombia hotel rooms before President Obama arrived in town for an international summit, Rep. Pete King said Saturday.

King said the raunchy rendezvous involved 11 agents and went sour when an agent refused to pay one of the women, who were presumed to be hookers.

“The agent said, ‘I don't owe you anything,’ but gave the woman some money,” said King (R-L.I.),the head of the House Homeland Security Committee, who was briefed on the matter. “I don't know how much, and it was settled right there.”

As it turned out, the agents’ troubles were just beginning. Local cops were called to the hotel in Cartagena and, because the matter involved foreigners, a report was written up and sent to the U.S. Embassy, King said.

Embassy officials in turn notified the Secret Service, which immediately launched an investigation.

At least one supervisor was among the agents involved, King said. He was not certain exactly how many women were involved.

The scandal — a black eye for the United States’ reputation abroad — was revealed Friday just hours before President Obama arrived in Cartagena.

The 11 agents were part of an advance team assigned to secure a local hotel before the summit began, yet their attention apparently turned to taking advantage of Colombia’s policy of legal prostitution.

Five American service members were also accused of misconduct stemming from the scandalous incident at the hotel, according to the U.S. military.

“They had arranged to have a bunch of prostitutes come by and one of the agents refused to pay a prostitute,” said author Ronald Kessler, one of the leading experts on the Secret Service. “Yes, doubly good judgment there.”

Kessler, who was briefed on the investigation by his sources within the agency, told the Daily News Saturday that the spurned hooker told police about the lack of payment.

The 11 agents were immediately recalled to Washington.

“Their careers are over,” said Kessler.

“Number one, it is against basic ethics to go to a prostitute,” he continued. “Number two, it is incredibly embarrassing to the White House.”

“And number three,” he continued. “It could leave them open to blackmail and a possible assassination attempt.”

Yes, folks, this is your Obama Administration: your champions of women's rights. If this had been Republicans, can you imagine what the Obama campaign would be saying about exploitation, lack of respect for women, abuse of women's rights, blah blah blah?